The Famous Grouse
The story of The Famous Grouse blend traces back to Matthew Gloag, a grocer and wine merchant from Perth that built a reputation for bottling fine whisky from all over Scotland. When Matthew passed away in 1860, his son William took over the family business and decided to use the stocks he had at hand to produce a blended Scotch that would become known as ‘The Grouse‘. The brand was an instant success and by 1905 it was dubbed The Famous Grouse. A name that seems justified today, given the blend’s current status as the best selling whisky in Scotland. A title it has held since at least 1980.
Today The Famous Grouse brand is part of the Edrington Group, owners of The Macallan and Highland Park distilleries. The owners have expanded over the years with a few different expressions… The Smoky Black is a peated blend formerly known as the Black Grouse, the Naked Grouse is finished in Sherry Casks and the Snow Grouse was a grain whisky designed to be consumed straight from the freezer. The brand further diversified by releasing the Famous Ginger Grouse – an alcoholic Ginger Beer. I’ll be reviewing the original and best-known expression, however…
The Whisky
Smell: Vanilla, apples and a wee hint of coconut with some digestive biscuits and some youthful spirit heat.
Taste: Vanilla, honey, cream and malty biscuit with a touch of baked apple.
Thoughts: The Famous Grouse is successful because it offers consistency and affordability. It’s perhaps not a dram for nerds or connoisseurs, but it’s a wee half for the old boys that perch at bars, up and down the country. It’s the sort of old-fashioned, everyday Scotch whisky that my Granda would have enjoyed as a wee hauf n’ hauf.
Grouse, and blends like it, are the lifeblood of the Scottish whisky industry and while it may not be the most amazing thing I’ve ever put in my mouth, I refuse to look down my nose at it. It does exactly what it was designed to do and that is to supply a light, inoffensive whisky that delivers time and again and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
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For more on the Famous Grouse…
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